Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Traveling at this time of year can add to the
stress of the holiday season. Full flights, full airports, delays and
weather can take the fun out of the adventure.But the stress we feel during a turbulent
flight can be even worse.How to cope?AFAR magazine recently posted an article How to Find Your Chill on a Turbulent Flight

One of their suggestions?A bit of chocolate placed on your
tongue.Calming they say.My remedy – besides grabbing the armrest and
maybe the person next to me?A few salty
chips or crisps as some friends call them.

Whatever your approach to coping with a
bouncing flight may be useful even when the flight is calm but the travel hasn’t
been.Chocolate, chips, podcasts, music and
meditation all may provide a moment of respite, making your trip a happier experience. Let us know what works for you.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

If you live here in the United States you are most likely
counting the days until the election is over.Many of us are exhausted by debates, mail, and television ads.It seems we’ve been enduring the build up to
this election for four years. President Obama was elected, inaugurated and
minutes later the primary battles began.But we’re almost done and then we can take a break, recover from Presidential
Election Fatigue.

But we can’t ignore Presidential elections just because the
cycle has ended in the US. It isn’t the only country in the world that will
elect a president before the end of 2016.Between now and year’s end almost a dozen countries will elect
presidents.If we look carefully (and
with some effort) we’ll be able to find election results from Moldova,
Bulgaria, Ghana, Gabon and Austria.

Next year will bring more.Two are already making news in the US – Iran and France and there will be others
including Honduras and Rwanda.

Let’s not let our wish to be finished with Presidential
elections lead us to ignore what’s happening around the world.Let’s celebrate democratic elections wherever
they are and learn how their leaders will connect with ours.

Vote November 8 – then take a break – and refreshed, come
back with eyes on voters and elections around the world.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Are what we, in the US, call French fries a universal food?Read through Afar magazine'sarticle “13 Ways to Eat Fries Around the
World” a sampling of how French
fries are represented around the world and then decide.

You’ll find Curry fries in Ireland, fries with fish in the
UK, with eggs in an omelet in Tanzania. For fries with history look to Belgium
that’s been serving frites (fries) since the 1600’s. Today they're served with a dash of mayo
for dipping,

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Who
measures Gross National Happiness?Only
one country in the world, Bhutan, has officially adopted gross national happiness instead of gross domestic product as their main
development indicator. But don’t think that indicates a lack of
interest happiness as a measure of development and progress of countries at a
global, governmental level. Beginning in 2012 the United Nations Sustainable
Solutions Network has published three World Happiness Report. (2012, 2013,
2015)In early 2016 an update was
published with a full report due in 2017.

We
aren’t talking about happiness in terms of laughter, which have the most
comedians per capita or whose people create the best jokes.Rather the report looks at serious issues of
daily life of the residents in 156 countries around the globe.

Katia Hetter writing for CNN Travel states
that the reports authors consider “Happiness is a better measure of human
welfare than measuring education, health, poverty, income and good government
separately, the report's editors argue.” There are at least seven key ingredients of
happiness: People who live in the happiest countries have longer life
expectancies, have more social support, have
more freedom to make life choices, have
lower perceptions of corruption, experience more generosity, experience
less inequality of happiness and have a
higher gross domestic product per capita, the report shows.(italics added)

While the article appeared on the travel
site, suggesting perhaps that one might prefer to travel to a happier country,
the subject has more serious implications.

According
to World Happiness Report website “Leading
experts across fields – economics, psychology, survey analysis, national
statistics, health, public policy and more – describe how measurements of
well-being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations”. In 2017 a new more detailed report will be issued.
Let’s see which countries are Happiest and which ones have moved up or down in
the ranking, and how they are seen overall as countries to visit, as business partners, and contributors to the well being of the world.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

People’s names matter.Getting them right, remembering them, pronouncing them correctly is essential to create the impression that one is polite,
thoughtful and interested in each individual.However, today, when our
business networks stretch around the globe, getting it right isn’t always easy.

Deciding if someone you’re writing to is Mr. or Ms. isn’t
the only puzzle. How to know what is the surname/family name and what is the
given name?Is Yao MingMr. or Ms.?Mrs. Ming or Mr. Yao?Is the
family name(surname) written first or
is it last?(By the way Yao Ming is Mr. Yao) In addition there’s the question:how is the name pronounced?

Don’t despair. You can find the answer even when the usual
Google search doesn’t yield a useful response. Help is often as simple phone
call away.If your city has an embassy
or a consulate for the country that is home to the person with the name that
puzzles you – give them a call.Someone
there will be able to help.No embassy
or consulate in your city?Find an
Embassy in Washington, DC (http://www.embassy.org/embassies/).

Check to see if there is business development organization
such as the Hong Trade Development Council, a Korean or French American Chamber
of Commerce, for example.If none of
those exist, try a nearby university.Their language department may be able to advise you.

Whether you are going to visit or planning to welcome Mr.
Sekou Nkrumah from Ghana, Ms. Zeynep Yildirim from Turkey, or Mr. Choi Jihoon
from South Korea you can find the answers. Be prepared and make the impression
that you are thoughtful , knowledgeable and polite.People to do business with those who know
their name.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

We think the UN operating in six official languages is
impressive but those are a tiny fraction of the 7,102 languages in the
world.Of those thousands researchers
tell us 23 are mother tongues spoken by almost 50 BILLION people.But all those people don’t live in one spot. People move, learn new languages, and yet
still speak their mother tongue – sharing it with the people in their new
places.

Take a look at the Infographic created by Alberto Lucas
Lopez, Graphics Director at the South China Morning Post to see what the
languages are and where they’re spoken.

Briefly they said that today 600 world cities contribute 60%
of the world’s GDP.But slightly more
than a dozen years from now, think 2026, 600 cities will contribute 65%.

A measurable uptick but more importantly the names of the
cities on the list of 600 will change.We’ll see hundreds of cities in China, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Sudan,
Nigeria, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain replacing names that are
now included.

Connecting the World

About Me

Given that all business is global and personal, individuals connecting its essential we share information, our ways of doing business. This blog is to stimulate thinking, provide some practical information. Topics may be about a business practice that differs from place to place, a piece of news, a tip about a city. The intent is to provide some insights about our complicated world. I hope these posts will be useful, practical and support your efforts wherever your projects take you.
Please comment, share your questions, stories and perspective.
Let’s move ahead by building our understanding of each other to create powerful businesses and great connections.